Oliver teleported from the magical portal, landing slowly on a cold rocky floor. He looked around, finding nothing but pitch-black darkness.
"What is this? The last thing I remember is that I was with the squad after our fight with the goblins. Then a portal suddenly opened and I was transported to this cave... and it is completely dark. I wonder, were the others transported here too?"
In the midst of the deadly silence and the darkness of the place, Oliver felt a sudden pain. He was scratched lightly on his shoulder.
He whispered to himself as he touched the blood, "What was that? Whatever it is, it is very fast and uses the darkness of the night to its advantage."
Oliver was attacked again, but this time on his leg. He quickly realized the situation. "If I stay still, I will be killed. I must teleport now."
Oliver used his magic and teleported, but he found himself in another spot inside the same cave!
"I returned to almost the exact same point. It seems there is magic in this place preventing me from leaving. And that thing... it sees in the dark, which is not promising at all."
The goblin was hiding in the darkness, readying its weapon to pounce on its prey. But when it finally attacked, Oliver suddenly vanished from before it.
Oliver spoke from the midst of the darkness with a voice as cold as frost. "If I cannot see him, I will not let him see me either. I have to find a plan, and fast, because this won't last long, as I do not know exactly where I am standing. I am teleporting to places I know inside the cave, but I return to the same point through different routes... This means there is a sorcerer among the goblins casting a barrier. But actually, this is good, because the goblin doesn't know my location now either."
Suddenly, Oliver took a light hit to his back.
"No, I was wrong! I must find a radical solution."
Oliver heard the sound of a rough laugh echoing in the cave. Oliver's movements stopped, and his tone of voice completely changed, becoming terrifying and manic.
"Are you laughing now? Is this fun? Unfortunately, I do not have time to play. There is a muscle-headed fool who does not think that I need to find, and someone who cannot use his power, and I have to regroup with the Commander. So, shall we begin? Because at this moment... I am at the peak of my excitement to kill."
Oliver picked up some pebbles from the ground, then vanished.
The goblin heard the sound of something dropping in a corner of the cave, so it rushed toward it quickly, but found nothing. It heard it again in another corner, so it rushed again to strike, but nothing! And the third time, the goblin lunged and struck with all its might at the empty air...
Suddenly, it felt a sword piercing its skull from behind! It turned slowly, its eyes bulging, to find Oliver looking at it with eyes gleaming in the dark.
Oliver said in cold blood, "So, you are the one who was giving me a headache. Did you think that by blocking my teleportation and blinding my vision you would succeed in eliminating me? Fool. Learn who you are facing first; for I am the lover of death, Oliver Dragonhawk. And as a mark that you were defeated by me..."
Oliver gripped the sword embedded in the goblin's head, and with a violent motion, he drove the sword and the goblin's head into the rocky wall, hanging it like a doll.
Oliver wiped his glasses and said with his normal, calm demeanor returned, "Now, let's see how we will get out of here to find the others."
The Lake Trap: The Strategy of Muscles
As for Henry, he opened his eyes to find himself standing on a small rock.
"Ah... this is strange. Where am I? What? A lake? I am in the middle of a lake? What is going on? I wonder if everyone is okay?"
Suddenly, an arrow was fired that almost hit Henry, had it not been for his quick reflexes, dodging it at the last second.
Henry shouted angrily, "What? Are you targeting me? Come and fight me face-to-face, you cowards!"
Silence suddenly fell over the place, and no other arrows were fired. It was as if Henry was cornered, and the goblins were waiting for the right moment to pounce on him. Suddenly, thick chains made of water erupted from the bottom of the lake, wrapping around his body and binding him tightly to the rock.
"Chains? So this is your plan! I will use my magic to break them." Henry tried to summon his magic, but he was surprised. "Wait... no energy? Interesting. Is this your plan? Imprison me and drain my energy? But unfortunately, I will destroy them."
Henry flexed his muscles trying to break them, but they did not shatter. "Ah... they are not destroyed as easily as I imagined. And I also feel my magic is almost nonexistent here. So, I am standing on a rock, tied with magical chains, and there are fools surrounding me from afar... but, they do not know that I have muscles of steel!"
Henry shouted, trying to break the shackles again, but nothing happened.
He sighed in annoyance. "Fine, muscles do not break everything on the first try."
Another arrow was aimed at him, so Henry smiled and said, "Wow! It seems you are trying to hunt me slowly. So, how about you come and try right now? Am I not worth the effort?"
Another arrow was fired, followed by a projectile of rushing water.
"Are you using force now? What a hassle! If you want the hard way, then come at me with all your strikes, because I will endure them all! Except for the arrows aimed at the face, I do not want to ruin my handsome face before I find my true love."
Someone fired an arrow that gave Henry a superficial cut on his arm. Henry kept glaring angrily at the goblin who shot it, and the goblin had a very ugly face.
Henry shouted, "Wow! It seems you and I will never get along, you ugly beast. So, why don't you come and show me what you can do up close?"
One of the goblins fired a powerful water projectile, but Henry didn't dodge it; instead, he blocked it with his chest muscles! As for the arrows, he avoided them with calculated movements. He continued like this until he completely stopped moving. Some arrows even pierced his leg and arms, yet he remained motionless, as if he had lost consciousness.
The aquatic goblins approached him joyfully, emerging from their hiding spots to mutilate his corpse. But when they finally reached the rock...
Henry opened his eyes with a wide smile. "You finally came, you bastards! It took some patience to catch the prey, right?"
In one violent motion, Henry shattered the water chains with astonishing ease! It turned out he had broken them a while ago, and all his bloody injuries were fake! He had stopped the arrows before they pierced his body deeply using a thin shield of sand from the ground. He had used what little power he had left to deal minor, hidden damage to the chains, and remained still, pretending to be injured until they broke and his muscles could shatter them.
Henry said as he cracked his neck, "Now, which bastard scratched me at the beginning? Does he know that when I look in the mirror I will see the scar on my arm and it won't match the look of my mighty muscles? It doesn't matter, no need to be terrified now... for you are going to die."
Henry charged at them like a nightmare, eliminating them all with crushing blows.
He dusted off his hands and said, "Now, I must find my friends."
The Bloody Commander's Secret: Forbidden Magic
As for Vice-Captain Julian, he was walking calmly.
"I have been wandering in these caves for hours, but nothing. I wonder how the others are doing? I took responsibility for protecting them, and I must find them."
A rough voice from the darkness interrupted him. "Where are you going? I was ordered to fight you until you die."
Julian turned to find a massive, armored goblin standing before him. Julian asked coldly, "A goblin that speaks fluently? Who are you?"
"I am the Vice-Captain of the Goblins, and I am the one who will eliminate you."
Julian chuckled lightly. "Eliminate me? Are you hallucinating or what?"
The goblin roared, "You say I am hallucinating? We will see about that!"
The goblin was holding a massive battle axe, which he threw with tremendous force at Julian. Julian dodged it easily and said, "Is that all you have?"
But suddenly, due to a ricochet magic, the axe returned from behind and struck Julian in the back, tearing his uniform!
The goblin smiled triumphantly. "Do you understand now that you are dead?"
Julian stood up, a shadow covering his eyes, and said with a voice dripping with terror, "That wasn't a bad strike... but, what you do not know is that this place is about to be filled with blood."
The goblin's eyes widened in shock. "What?"
Julian said with deadly calmness, "Blood Magic: Pool of Blood."
In seconds, the entire cave floor turned into a pool of boiling, viscous blood. When the goblin tried to move, he could not lift his feet.
"What is happening?" the goblin screamed in terror.
Julian said as he advanced toward him, "I told you that you were hallucinating by claiming you could actually kill me."
The goblin used his teleportation magic and suddenly vanished from before Julian. Julian was slightly surprised that he possessed teleportation magic, but he smiled mockingly. "Do you think you can touch me or escape from me?"
Suddenly, the goblin appeared in another spot in the cave, only to find himself impaled by dozens of solid spikes made of blood that erupted from the walls!
"Now we will talk," Julian said as he approached the suspended, bleeding goblin. "Tell me, where is my squad? For their lives equal the lives of your entire tribe. If you understand, then speak."
The goblin laughed bitterly and spat blood. "And who are you to tell me, you bastard?"
"So you will not speak? Good. Blood Magic: Red Death."
The goblin looked behind Julian and saw a massive, terrifying monster taking shape from the pool of blood! The sight struck such terror into the goblin that his voice trembled.
"What the hell is this?! Who are you, human?"
Julian answered with freezing coldness, "I am Julian, the Vice-Captain of the Ice Eagles Squad. As for this secret of mine... I will bury it with you. For it is better that two people know a secret rather than three, right?"
"No! Please! I will tell you!" the goblin screamed, pleading.
"Then speak."
The goblin panted, saying, "It is a portal created by someone close to the King! Do you know him?"
"No, only our Commander has seen him and knows him, we do not. So, where do I find my friends?"
The goblin said as he gasped for his last breaths, "After the boss finishes off that human who is possessed by the demon..."
Julian's eyes narrowed. "Do you mean Andrei?"
"I do not know his name, but that is the secret behind our staged attack on the village... to get him."
Julian's face darkened, and he said in a low voice, "Andrei... it seems your secret will be revealed sooner than we expected."
Julian gave the goblin one last look and said, "Then, let me finish burying my secret first, and then go to Andrei. Monster... finish him."
"Wait! Please no! Pleeeease!"
The blood monster lunged at him, and in one terrifying bite, swallowed him whole, erasing any trace of his existence. Julian turned around and moved with quick steps into the darkness to search for Andrei before it was too late.